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The Mikado | 
| Director: Jonathan Miller
Actors: Felicity Palmer, Richard Van Allan, Eric Idle, Bonaventura Bottone, Lesley Garrett
Studio: AE Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 32.99
Buy New: CDN$ 19.65
You Save: CDN$ 13.34 (40%)
New (17) Used (2) from CDN$ 17.88
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 18708
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 73590
ISBN: 0767086325
UPC: 733961735901
EAN: 9780767086325
ASIN: B000BB150W
Theatrical Release Date: 1987
Release Date: December 26, 2005
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from the USA. ALL ITEMS ARE BRAND NEW! Delivery takes from 10-14 Working Days.
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| Similar Items:
| | Gilbert Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre | | | Gilbert Sullivan - The Gondoliers / David Hobson, Roger Lemke, Australian Opera | | | Gilbert Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Kline, Ronstadt, Smith, Routledge, Delacorte Theater (Broadway Theatre Archive) | | | Gilbert Sullivan - Patience / Australian Opera | | | Hair (Widescreen/Full Screen) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
Jonathan Miller set his well-known production of IThe Mikado/I, staged for the English National Opera, in a British seaside resort of the 1920s. The result, complete with a chorus of gentlemen of Japan as cartoon-like British peers, emphatically underscores the Englishness of the satire. The occasional non sequiturs, like a bunch of gentry dressed for Ascot and singing in Japanese, are loonily fun, and no more absurd than the fantasyland Japan that Gilbert and Sullivan invented. The time frame, though, seems little more than an excuse for a smart black-and-white production design.p The show's main calling card is Eric Idle as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Unfortunately, his star turn of a performance, like the production as a whole, is not as funny as it should be. There are loads of comic ideas, some of them effective (bellboys parading through the hotel lobby with "No flirting" signs), some dubious (Ko-Ko delivering a 1980s-updated "little list" song at a press conference), some worked beyond their shelf life (insanely posh accents). This video recording of a 1987 performance could have been better made; the chorus, badly miked, sounds as if it is far off-stage. The actors' heavy makeup and heavy mugging are reminders that the production wasn't originally created for the camera. Such staginess may take some getting used to, but it fits in nicely with the aggressive fakery characteristic of GS. This revisionist IMikado/I is probably best after you've experienced more straightforward approaches. I--David Olivenbaum/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Fabulous January 23, 2004
Martin S. Hennessee (Knoxville, TN)
I remember this from HBO when I was young. It made a big impression on me then, and makes a big one now that I have finally seen it again, with all the knowledge of Gilbert Sullivan that I've acquired over the years. The set design and costumes are wonderful, and the English seaside setting is clever if not particularly meaningful in and of itself. The video effects are fairly ham-handed, but don't detract from the stage show which is, in a word, delightful. This is quite simply the most hilariously funny Mikado available on video. Richard Angas in the title role lends the Mikado a certain sinister seediness (and his costume is amazing). Eric Idle does a great Ko-Ko, putting his patent insincerity to good use, and putting to rest any quibbles about stunt casting. The rest of the cast and chorus are equally outstanding. Most notably, Felicity Palmer's Katisha and Richard van Allen's Pooh-Bah are as close to definitive as I can imagine (both later reprised the roles on the delightful Mackerras recording). Ms. Palmer deserves special mention, as she milks Katisha for all the humor and pathos she's worth, while delivering the demanding vocal passages in a ringing mezzo voice. It's a shame there's not a traditional Japanese-dress Mikado on par with this one, but I have no difficulty in saying that for casual viewers and Savoyards alike, this should be at the top of everyone's little list.
 Mikado in Black and White December 23, 2003
Janet (Los Angeles, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I showed this video to my brother-in-law, he said, "Well, that was different without being different." I think that says it all about this production. Despite being set in the 1920's, and in England, it doesn't lose the essence of the Gilbert Sullivan original. I have 4 different versions of "The Mikado", and rank this one as one of my favorites, along with the Stratford Festival's production. Eric Idle is excellent as Koko, and the rest of the cast is well chosen and give equally excellent performances (I think this Katisha is the best I've seen, and her solo the most moving of all of the Katisha's). The costuming sets are all black and white, and very effective, and the Busby Berkely-style dance numbers quite amusing. The direction doesn't seem to have been thought out very well for video, but I overlook that, as I enjoy the rest so much. There are so many nuances of humor thrown in that you'll see something new each time you watch it. And, speaking of humor, there's never been a better toupee than the one Pish Tush wears! Although I'm pretty sure G S would be pretty upset about the license taken with their work, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Here's a Title for Review December 21, 2001
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just picture this:pPooh-Bah sings in recititive Here he comes, equipped as fits his station. He'll give you any further information The Chorus enters and sings the stately Behold the Lord High Executioner then, enter Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner (marvelously played by Monty Python's Eric Idle), dressed for tennis.pI doubt this joke was in Sir William Gilbert's mind, but even to the purist it works. The revised List Song is even a breath of fresh air, as Gilbert's lyric had become obsolete and, therefore, unfunny. However, this new lyric will leave you laughing (unless you're from Austrailia, that is).pAll other performances were wonderful at worst, although Nanki-Poo could have enunciated a little better. Those few dialogue cuts are not missed.pI cannot say enough about this production. It is, undoubtably, the best Mikado I've seen!
Must have been great on stage July 4, 2001
marcel redkin (USA)
The best sung and most intelligently staged Mikado available on video is marred by obtrusively lame direction for television that makes some bits almost unwatchable. But let's dwell instead on the production's many virtues. Jonathan Miller's resetting is brilliant. Gilbert needed an an exotic location (Japan) to parody contemporary Victorian England, but in our era a 1920s British seaside resort affords all the distance in time and manners that parody requires. Not having to act in an artless Japanese way (apologies to Yum-Yum) seems to have freed the performers to take over the characters body and soul, to speak, move, and sing as if effortlessly yet very expressively. Van Allan (Pooh-Bah), Palmer (Katisha), and Garrett (Yum-Yum) put the lie to the notion that opera singers can't do GS. Bonaventure Bottone is the only convincing Nanki-Poo I've seen. Eric Idle, the name draw of the production, blows hot and cold as Ko-Ko. In Act 1 he can't seem to get ahold of the character and goes for empty gags as if it were a 30-second Python sketch, but in Act 2 he buys into the role and brings off his big scenes with the Mikado and Katisha beautifully. The splendid choreography with the chorus--the Busby Berkeleyish tap dancing in the finales is a hoot--makes good use of the period sets which, even though mainly black and white, are pure eye candy. But I missed the kind of imaginative blocking-out of trios and quartets that you get in some other productions (like the Act 2 madrigal in the Stratford production); Miller has the performers huddled together as if against a stiff ocean breeze. It was a relief, though, to be spared the frantic cliched gesturing with which GS performers typically accompany their songs (the gestures are meant to tell the story in lieu of the often unintelligible lyrics), as it allows them to do more natural and unexpected things with their hands. As to the TV direction, the less said the better. Just close your eyes when headless dancers appear in a thought bubble above Ko-Ko's still-attached head.
An absolute classic June 19, 2000
Eleanor Marshall (Australia)
The only time I have seen this musical was on a TV station with a terrible reception quality and during a thunder storm. Even so, I recorded it and played it over and over until my brother recorded over the top of it. Needless to say, I was not happy and I've been looking for a copy now for about the last ten years, so it's brilliant that it's about to be released for sale. I thought the production was incredibly original -Jonathon Miller is so inventive - although obviously if you're a lover of the traditional Mikado then it may not be what you're looking for. Eric Idle of Monty Python was great - he really brought the musical to life with his humour, and his voice was great as well. In fact, my drama school was so impressed with this version that they used some of the subtle humour for their production. I definitely recommend this video for anyone with a sense of fun. Go on, give it a try!
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